A U.S. Air Force technology spacecraft flight is scheduled to carry an Ion Auxiliary Propulsion System (IAPS) as part of its experimental payload. This paper presents the results of the successful flight-software qualification and system-level tests which were performed on IAPS. The software tests were performed with an operating engineering model ion thruster and power processing unit, and failure/off-normal recovery modes, operation with and without temperature telemetry from the thruster vaporizers, and with closed-loop control or fixed setpoint operation of the thruster vaporizers. The system-level tests cover a wide range of thermal and operating conditions with the entire system exposed to a simulated space environment.
Software and system level tests of a test flight mercury ion thruster subsystem
Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, and DGLR, International Electric Propulsion Conference ; 1982 ; New Orleans, LA
1982-11-01
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Keine Angabe
Englisch
PPS 1350 Plasma Thruster Subsystem Life Test
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